Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The
Quarto del Priore
in the southern wing houses the bulk of the picture collection, as
well as one of the museum's most famous pieces, Pietro Bernini's tender
La vergine col
bambino e San Giovannino
(Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist).
A pictorial history of Naples is told in the section
Immagini e Memorie di Napoli
(Images and
Memories of Naples). Here you'll find portraits of historic characters; antique maps, in-
cluding a 35-panel copper map of 18th-century Naples in Room 45; and rooms dedicated
to major historical events such as the Revolt of the Masaniello (Room 36) and the plague
(Room 37). Room 32 boasts the beautiful Tavola Strozzi (Strozzi Table); its fabled depic-
tion of 15th-century maritime Naples is one of the city's most celebrated historical re-
cords.
Castel Sant'Elmo
MAP
CASTLE, MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 081 558 77 08;
www.coopculture.it
;
Via Tito Angelini 22; adult/reduced €5/2.50; castle 8.30am-7.30pm Wed-
Mon, last entry 6.30pm; Vanvitelli, funicular Montesanto to Morghen)
Commanding spectacular city
and bay views, this star-shaped castle was originally a church dedicated to St Erasmus.
Some 400 years later, in 1349, Robert of Anjou turned it into a castle before Spanish vice-
roy Don Pedro de Toledo had it further fortified in 1538. Used as a military prison until
the 1970s, it's now home to the satisfying
Novecento a Napoli
( 081 558 77 08; 9am-6pm Wed-
Mon, entry on the hour, every hour)
, an art museum dedicated to 20th-century southern Italian art.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Santa Lucia & Chiaia
Teatro San Carlo
MAP
THEATRE
GOOGLE MAP
( 081 797 24 68;
www.teatrosancarlo.it
;
Via San Carlo 98; guided tour adult/reduced €6/3; guided tours every
hour from 10.30am-4.30pm Mon-Sat, to 12.30pm Sun, morning tours only Jan & Feb; R2 to Via San Carlo)
Even
if you're not an opera fan, a guided tour of Italy's biggest and oldest opera house is worth
an 'encore'. While the original 1737 theatre burnt down in 1816, Antonio Niccolini's
19th-century reconstruction is an extraordinary architectural gem, lavished with six gilded
levels of boxes and a living testament to Naples' former status as Europe's music capital.
Tickets for the guided tour are available at the theatre box office.