We are in Naples for a family wedding, but first we are keen to see something of the city and also the great sights of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We leave our rather grand hotel (apparently popular with professional footballers) and walk to the Castel Nuovo. It was founded in 1279 and is also known as the Angevin Castle (its founder was Charles I of Anjou). The white triumphal arch was commissioned by Alfonso of Aragon in 1442.
The castle is rectangular, with a large courtyard: this is the opposite end, viewed from the outside.
We followed the pavement by the main road towards and then beside the sea. There are many fine buildings on the landward side of the main road. This often crowded path brought us to the second of Naples' castles: the Castel dell'uovo, Naples' oldest castle - and yes there is an egg supposedly buried in its foundations.
The castle stands on a small island which was once used by the Greeks as a harbour and which was converted into a fort by the Normans in the 12th century. We had a pleasant ramble through the castle, which is now used for cultural events and exhibitions. This is the view from the ramparts inland towards the city.
The Castle is now surrounded on the landward side by a large selection of restaurants. Looking back the way we came we caught a glimpse of a three-masted sailing boat, with the twin peaks of Vesuvius behind it. Not my best photo, but better than nothing.
We headed inland towards the Piazza Trieste e Trento and then walked up via Toledo as Ange was in need of new sunglasses. Once that need was satisfied we continued along this long pedestrianised street to reach the spacious Piazza Dante ...
... inevitably with a statue of the great man himself.
We then headed through a warren of streets to find a grand baroque church, the Gesu Nuovo, hidden behind scaffolding. We later discovered that the scaffolding concealed a rather austere and not very attractive facade. The Baroque interior was a bit OTT.
More or less opposite was the church of Santa Chiara which was built in 1313–1340 by Queen Sancha of Majorca and her husband King Robert of Naples who is also buried in the complex. Inside the church is spacious and with a pleasant interior. Beyond the church there was an incredible garden and cloister. The garden features these exquisite columns with majolica tiles added in 1742 by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.
The four walls of the splendid cloister were covered with seventeenth century
frescoes depicting Saints, allegories and scenes of the Old Testament.
It remained only to amble back to our hotel and its footballers. Not that we actually saw any.
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