The neighbourhoods of Naples
Rione Sanità holds bones and catacombs, the Quartieri Spagnoli a mural that became a shrine, and Vomero a view and a fortress — none of the three makes the list for a place to stay.
- Rione Sanità
- The Catacombs of San Gennaro €13
- Quartieri Spagnoli
- The Maradona mural since 1990
- Vomero
- Certosa di San Martino €6
Three quarters off the main route show a different Naples, and none of them is chosen as a place to sleep. Rione Sanità grew up around a cemetery and catacombs, the Quartieri Spagnoli around the military barracks that gave it its name, and Vomero is the hill above everything, reached by metro or funicular.
Rione Sanità — a quarter built around a cemetery
Sanità grew up in the 16th century as a suburb around early Christian catacombs, outside the city walls of the time. Today it's a working-class district of murals and craft workshops, and its main draw is the Catacombs of San Gennaro, a Christian necropolis with crypts and frescoes, €13, shut on Wednesdays. A few streets away is the Cimitero delle Fontanelle, holding the bones the quarter once named.
Quartieri Spagnoli — a grid with no pavement
The quarter was built in the 16th century for Spanish garrisons, on a strict grid of narrow streets climbing from Via Toledo. Washing strung across the street and voices from open windows are everyday life, not a set-up for tourists. On Largo Maradona, in the middle of the quarter, an April 1990 mural of Diego Maradona has since become an informal shrine, with a small chapel beside it — the most visited spot in Naples, despite being neither a museum nor a monument.
Vomero — the hill above everything
Vomero sits above the old town, high enough that you don't walk up but take the metro to Vanvitelli station or the Centrale funicular from Via Toledo. At the top are Castel Sant'Elmo, a fortress with a terrace over the whole bay, €6, shut on Tuesdays, and next to it Certosa di San Martino with its museum, €6, closed on Wednesdays — the same day the Catacombs of San Gennaro are shut too.
Why nobody sleeps here
Sanità and the Quartieri Spagnoli have little conventional accommodation and aren't a reason to stay the night, but to see by day. Vomero is a residential quarter with no particular reason to sleep there when the old town is ten minutes away. All three stay visits of a few hours each, not a base for the rest of a stay.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Is it all right to stay overnight in the Quartieri Spagnoli?
It's allowed, but accommodation is scarce and the quarter is mainly a daytime visit, for the mural and the narrow streets.
Which is closer to the centre, Sanità or Vomero?
Sanità is right by the old town, a few minutes' walk from the Archaeological Museum; Vomero is the hill above it, reached by metro or funicular.
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