Cultural wealth in the centre of Naples

Musician Pino Daniele, singing in Neapolitan dialect and using folkish rhythm is one of Naples current cultural icons. In a completely different field, journalist Roberto Saviano, with his political expose on the local camorra and the subsequent award winning international film Gomorra, is another.

Toto and Eduardo de Filippo were from a generation or two ago.

But Naples has the imprint of successive cultures of the ages, ever since Greek settlers founded the city in 470 B.C. Modern art and city ghettos were predated by religious illumination and defensive fortresses, with examples such as the Church of Santa Chiara and the Castel Nuovo rising high in Naples' history.

Carabinieri, the local police force, are the butt of many a joke in Italy, but the remains of one carabinieri who is a national hero, Salvo D'Acquisto, are kept in the Santa Chiara church. D'Acquisto sacrificed his own life to save 22 civilians during Nazi occupation in Italy. In the Church he rests in noble company. Founder of the monastery, King Robert, is buried here too, along with Francis II and his consort Marie Sophie as well as Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy.

Located in the heart of Naples' historic city centre Santa Chiara Church is open for visits through its gothic-style church, chapels and monastery as well as the tombs and archaeological finds housed beneath.

The city's Castel Nuovo was built during the 13th century to house the court but dossed many an intriguing cloak. At the end of that century it was the scene of Italy's one and only resignation of a pope, that of Pope Celestine V. It became a centre of art patronage during the early 14th century and was the site of the Barons conspiracy during the 15th.

Like all castles it was sacked more than once and alternated between royal and political residence and military fortress and the Castel Nuovo remains central to daily Neapolitan life. The castle is close to the port district where ferries depart for island visits and only a few hundred metres from the city's key Piazza del Plebiscito, the magnificent San Carlo Theatre and the Galleria Umberto shopping centre.

Today the castle is a museum, where visitors can pass underneath the entrance's triumphal arch, designed by Francesco Laurana, and study in detail this wonderful symbol of the architecture and history of Naples city.