The first reference to Naples, Neapolis to the Greeks, is found in the Homeric legend of the sirens. In Roman times the city itself was considered a relaxed place of high culture. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and Neapolis to the northeast escaped the fates of Pompeii and Herculaneum, thanks to a prevailing southwest wind. The city was covered with a thin layer of ash and was rocked by tremors.

Naples is the third largest city of Italy and a sprawling one, with a centre that has many different focuses. The area between Piazza Garibaldi and Via Toledo, roughly corresponding to the hold Roman Neapolis (much of which is still unexcavated below the ground), makes up the old part of the city, the "centro storico", the main streets still following the path of the old Roman roads. But insularity of the centro storico is deceptive and in reality there is another, quite different side of Naples.

Via Toledo, the main street of the city, edges the old centre from the Palazzo Reale up to the Archeological Museum and the heaths of Capodimonte. To the left rises the Vomero, with its fancy housing and museums, and the smug eighbourhoods of Chiaia, beyond which lies the long green boulevard of Villa Comunale. Naples is an airy waterfront city, with views, seafood eaten al fresco and peace and quiet.