Campania

Naples

The basic structure of the city of Naples and the current form of the historical center, derived since the Greek period, but reflect the reworking of ancient paths (which are still visible ancient decumani). Over time, the urban transformations that have affected the core of the city, was concentrated on the expansion of the walls and the creation of new districts. This happened, at least until the eighteenth century, since in the next century, with the reorganization, many areas including parts of the old town were demolished to be rebuilt.

Six are the castles for defensive purposes come down to us almost intact, five in the historic center (Male Angevin or Castel Nuovo, Castel Capuano Castel Sant' Elmo, Castel dell' Ovo and Barracks Garibaldi) and one in suburban area, the Castle of Nisida building that now houses the late-Angevin colony of redemption for minors. Do not forget, also, two castles: the Fort of Vigliena and the Castle of Mount Carmelo.

In town there are two royal residences:

• Royal Palace that overlooks the Piazza del Plebiscito and has the typical shape of a European palace. Built in the seventeenth century, and was an official royal residence even under the Savoy monarchy until 1946.
• the Reggia di Capodimonte, commissioned by Charles III of Bourbon, in the draft to rearrange the features of the urban area of Naples and surroundings. The building, home today of a famous art gallery, was designed and constructed as a space destined to become, then, a major city park, in an attempt to guide urban planning consistent with the principles of the Enlightenment.

Caserta

Caserta, another town of considerable historical and cultural importance in Campania, is famous for its Bourbon palace. The Reggia di Caserta, or Palazzo Reale di Caserta, is a historic mansion that belonged to the royal family of Bourbon dynasty of Naples, declared World Heritage by UNESCO. The complex of the Palazzo Reale, which, with its gardens of about 2.5 kilometers long, is one of the largest in Europe, has won the award for most beautiful parks in Italy in 2009. Next to the palace, however, have to mention the monumental complex of San Leucio Belvedere, the medieva ltown Casertavecchia and its Monumental cathedral, the Shrine of Saint Anne.

How can we forget, then, the famous archaeological excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, ancient Roman city buried by the ashes of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and came down to us almost intact, so that, even today, you can see houses and roads even the social life of these two centers of ancient Roman culture.