Naples history

Nearly 3,000 years ago the Greeks made Naples their new city - Neapolis. Later the Romans made the whole region their own special campania - often prefixed with the word felix, calling it their ‘happy land'. Virgil, the poet of the Roman Empire, is said to be buried in the city's Parco Virgiliano.

The city's political history is rather complex. After Roman times, Naples has been dominated by Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Spaniards, Austrians, Bourbons and revolutionary French, all of which have left traces in its culture and cityscape.

In 1266, Naples became the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily, and after the Congress of Vienna in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, it became the capital of the united Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Only with the unification of Italy and the establishment of the Italian state did Naples become an ordinary Italian city.

For much of the period from the Italian unification until the present day, however, Naples has been a troubled city, ridden with crime, poverty, corruption and extremely bad waste management - something that has at times turned the city itself into a dump.

And while in the 18th century Naples was a prime destination for Grand Tour travellers, the city has struggled to regain the old allure, lagging behind many other Italian destinations in terms of visitor numbers. The times are changing, however, for Naples is now making strides in recovering its eminence as a cultural centre.