Naples, a city of art, takes the form of an amphitheater that embraces the Gulf, together with Vesuvius, the coastal mountains, and the islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida, and Cape Misenum as its outer limits. Situated at the center of the Mediterranean, the main town of the Campania Region and ‘capital’ of Italy’s Mezzogiorno, Naples extends over an area of 117.27 square km and has a population of about 1,020,120 inhabitants.

The history of Naples is well-known. Its territory was first colonized in 900 BC, almost 3000 years ago, when ‘Anatolian and Achaean merchants and travelers arrived in the gulf on their way to the ore trading centers of the High Tyrrhene’ and founded Parthenope in the area which includes the isle of Megaride (the present-day Castel dell’Ovo) and the Monte Echia Promontory (the present-day Monte di Dio and Pizzofalcone).

Later Parthenope was abandoned and took the name of ‘Palaeapolis’ (old city). In 475 AD the inhabitants of Cuma founded Neapolis (new city) to the east of the original city. Neapolis was built according to a plan called ‘Hippodamian’, or ‘per strigas’, a network of streets placed at right angles which are still visible in the city of today.