Naples is capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. The city has a population of about 1 million of habitants. By one count the metropolitan area of Naples is the second largest in Italy after that of Milan, with more than 4,400,000 inhabitants. The persons are known as Neapolitans, napoletani or poetically partenopei in Italian (napulitane in Neapolitan). This city is situated halfway between the volcano, Vesuvius and a separate volcanic area, the Campi Flegrei, all part of the Campanian volcanic arc.

The city's commercial and cultural history has always been rigidly connected with the importance of its port. Strategically situated, Naples has been desired ever since it was established as a Greek colony around 600 BC, named "Neapolis" (New City). Conquered by the Romans in 327 BC, it became a popular residence of emperors and literary personages, including Virgil and Nero. A Byzantine dukedom in the 7th century and later subject to Norman Sicily, Naples reached the zenith of its medieval prosperity when Charles I of Anjou made it his capital in 1266. Along with his Angevin and Aragonese successors, Charles enlarged the city and embellished it with palaces and churches.

The poets represented to Naples as being as exquisite and attractive as a virgin, but mysterious and sensual as an odalisque. And there must have been a cause why famous artists from all over the world visited Naples as element of their training and fell in love with it. The Greeks believed that they city dissolved all worries. Travelers of the past saw it as a multifaceted land, radiant and dark, calm and volcanic, which brought together a range of western and oriental cultures. Since 1995, Naples' old town, the largest in the world, has been on the UNESCO list of world heritage. When visiting it, one goes on an incredible journey back through 27 centuries. Castles, palazzos, villas, churches, walls, gates, palaces, excavations, parks, fountains and museums are a constant temptation for lovers of beauty. Or one can follow the advice of the travelers of the past who often forgot to visit the cultural sites, seduced by the city's everyday charm, its viewpoints and hidden gardens, monumental squares and characteristic glimpses, unknown cloisters and tangle of narrow alleyways like a pulsating heart. Time and fashions pass, tastes and habits change, but Naples' charm remains. A surprising mixture of nature, monuments, art, culture and folklore, it is Naples.